More 'Ernie's Army' staffers say they were stiffed

Updated 12:05 am, Wednesday, January 9, 2013

BRIDGEPORT -- Two more soldiers in "Ernie's Army" complained Tuesday that state Senate hopeful Ernest E. Newton II was MIA when it came time to pay them.

"Even though he lost the election, he should still have to pay us what he owes us," said Anna Gonzalez, who was hired with her friend, Mary Misciuch, to help voters fill out absentee ballot applications. "He told us he was going to pay us $8 an hour to get absentee ballot applications signed for him and we haven't seen one cent."

But Newton insisted Tuesday he doesn't even know who the women are.

"I don't know anything about that, I didn't hire anybody," he said. "Everybody was paid as far as I know."

But 10 minutes after Newton talked to the Connecticut Post, Gonzalez said she was called by an aide to Newton she knows only as Charlie who warned her she and Misciuch would never get paid if they continued to talk to the media.

"Charlie" turned out to be East Side activist and failed mayoral candidate Charles Coviello, who disputed their account.

"I didn't tell them not to talk to the Connecticut Post, I just told them I wish they had called me first," he said. "These women did some absentee ballot work and get out the vote work for the campaign, but unfortunately the campaign came up short of funds so I'm going to pay them myself."

Newton, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for the state Senate district representing the city's East End and part of Stratford, was charged Friday with first-degree larceny and multiple counts of illegal campaign practices after campaign workers -- who said Newton bounced paychecks to them -- complained to state investigators that Newton had told them to fill out phony contribution forms.

Newton needed the additional contributions to be eligible to receive an $80,000 state grant.

Gonzalez and Misciuch said they contacted the Connecticut Post because they are hoping to get the money Newton owes them.

Both women are retired and live in the Bishop Curtis Homes at 525 Palisades Ave. They said Newton hired them to get absentee ballot applications signed for him after a rally in the senior center there attracted just 22 residents.

Gonzalez said they spent about 26 hours going door-to-door in the 10-story senior housing facility. She said she handled residents who only spoke Spanish.

"We really did a lot of work. We would spend about a half hour with each person, helping them to fill out the ballot, telling them what it was for. It was no picnic," Gonzalez said. "We went from the 10th floor to the first floor."

Gonzalez said they helped residents fill out the absentee ballot applications, which they then gave to Coviello. Later, after the residents got their ballots, she and Misciuch gave them advice about filling out the ballots -- but she emphasized that they did not tell residents who to vote for.

"We know that would have been wrong," she said.

Gonzalez said she then put stamps on the envelopes so the residents could mail them.

"I don't know how Ernie lost the election, he certainly had a lot of votes from here," she added.

In 2006, Newton was sentenced to five years in federal prison for taking a $5,000 bribe, diverting $40,682 in campaign contributions to himself and others and failing to report the money on his income tax return. He is on supervised release for that conviction -- and could be sent back to federal prison if the new charges result in a finding that he violated the terms of his release.